Munch Museum Show Reveals Artist’s Public Ambitions Through Chocolate Factory Frieze

The exhibition 'Edvard Munch and the Chocolate Factory' at the Munch Museum in Oslo (until 11 October) challenges the perception of Munch as an isolated, anxious painter by highlighting his role as a public artist. Central to the show is the Freia Chocolate Factory frieze, a series of 12 paintings created in 1922 for the women’s canteen, depicting coastal life in vibrant colors. The frieze was commissioned by factory director Johan Throne Holst, a proponent of workers’ wellbeing. Also featured is the monumental preparatory sketch 'Workers on the Building Site' (1931–33) for Oslo City Hall, a project never realized. The sketch was found crumpled in snow outside Munch’s studio after his death. The exhibition includes drafts for unrealized men’s canteen decorations and Oslo City Hall, showing Munch’s engagement with workers’ rights and industrial growth. Curator Ana Maria Basciani notes Munch saw art as “for everybody.” The Aula decorations at the University of Oslo (1916) are referenced as his first public commission, which he strategically pursued after a mental breakdown in 1908–09. The chocolate factory works remained in place for over a century, gathering stains, and drew 10,000 visitors in their first three weeks. Munch’s 1929 letter states: “Now it is the time of the worker.”